The Lion King Week - Day 5

Back in the summer last year Boris was mad on The Lion King film so I thought it would be fun to do a Lion King themed week for him with lots of sensory activities and fun things to do.  I didn't get round to posting about it at the time because it was a big project and I just never seemed to find the time to gather and edit all the photos. 

I have finally found the motivation to share it with you, (probably because I have been really lacking in activities for the boys recently so have nothing else activity-wise to share)  so here is it.  7 days of our activities to take you through the week.

So today we used the bug mould that I got from ASDA again.  This time I filled them with water and popped it into the freezer.  The icy bugs on their own were fascinating enough but we than added a dropper with food colouring the enhance the shapes and improve fine motor skills.  It gace us an opportunity to talk about colour mixing, and the qualities of materials (i.e. ice is frozen water, melts at room temperature etc). 

I put the food colouring into a mince pie tin, Boris found the dropper a bit tricky to fill, he struggles with coordinating squeezing the dropper and putting it into the food colouring, then letting go to suck it up.  

It was fascinating watching the colours mix on the ice and in the dish. 

The colour ran into the grooves in the bugs making their shape stand out. 

At the end we added some baby oil for an extra bit of interest, it was fascinating seeing it resist the food colouring and float on top.

Join me again for another Lion King themes activity tomorrow evening. Don't forget you can subscribe by email to my posts (on the right had side) and you can like my facebook page to keep up to date with posts.

Lion King Week - Day 4

Back in the summer last year Boris was mad on The Lion King film so I thought it would be fun to do a Lion King themed week for him with lots of sensory activities and fun things to do.  I didn't get round to posting about it at the time because it was a big project and I just never seemed to find the time to gather and edit all the photos. 

I have finally found the motivation to share it with you, (probably because I have been really lacking in activities for the boys recently so have nothing else activity-wise to share)  so here is it.  7 days of our activities to take you through the week.

Today I created an invitation to play using corn meal for edible sand, coconut shells, dried laves and feathers.  I had in my mind the scene from The Lion King when the Baboon Rafiki realises that Simba is alive.  He gathers dust leaves and feathers from the wind and swishes them around in a tortoise shell. He breaks open some fruit which has a coconut type shell.  I put everything into a large under-the-bed storage box in the garden. 

The main purpose of this task, apart from, of course, having fun, was as a sensory experience.  Running the sand through their fingers, scooping with with the coconut shells, exploring the way the sand and the feathers feel, crunching the leaves, feeling the softness of the feathers etc. 

There is also the fine motor skills development potential, with picking up the feathers and leaves and moving things around.

Boris spent a long time running the sand through his fingers and pouring it with the coconut shells.

It was a very calming and relaxing activity. 

Join me again for another Lion King themes activity tomorrow evening. Don't forget you can subscribe by email to my posts (on the right had side) and you can like my facebook page to keep up to date with posts.

Lion King Week - Day 2

Back in the summer last year Boris was mad on The Lion King film so I thought it would be fun to do a Lion King themed week for him with lots of sensory activities and fun things to do.  I didn't get round to posting about it at the time because it was a big project and I just never seemed to find the time to gather and edit all the photos. 

I have finally found the motivation to share it with you, (probably because I have been really lacking in activities for the boys recently so have nothing else activity-wise to share)  so here is it.  7 days of our activities to take you through the week.

So you know the scene from the Lion King where Timon and Pumbaa are showing Simba how he could eat bugs, well I went to town with this idea with the bugs.  Today I used a really cool cake mould that I got from the ASDA which features several bug shapes, beetles, butterflies, bees etc.  They still sell it I think.  So I mixed two different colours of jelly to make the bugs two-tone, and some separately in a bowl which I mashed up to give them something to sit in.

The boys used some kitchen utensils to squash, mash and generally break up the jelly bugs.

Of course they got their fingers stuck in and enjoyed the sensory experience. 

As well as giving it a taste.

A hammer always comes in handy for smashing up jelly bugs!

I bought these plastic bugs in advance and we put them in the jelly once it was all turned to mush,

Boris used a water squirter bottle to squirt the jelly with water which dissolved it.  This not only added a further sensory element, and helped improve fine motor skills, but also added a scientific element, and we briefly touched on the concept of dissolving. 

More fine motor skills by lifting the bugs out of the jelly with tongs. 

This activity lasted for ages and both boys got really stuck it, but Boris really engaged with the activity and was very memorised by feeling the jelly in his hands and experiencing its qualities. 

Join me again for another Lion King themes activity tomorrow evening. Don't forget you can subscribe by email to my posts (on the right had side) and you can like my facebook page to keep up to date with posts.

Easter Activities

Slightly out of season now but I wanted to share a few of the Easter activities we did, I actually had a load more Easter activities planned but was really ill over the period I had them planned for so many weren't executed, oh well, maybe next year.   

As a Christian family Easter is a really important time of year for us.  I love it, it is absolutely my favourite Christian festival.  It has all the excitement and joy of Christmas without the stress of buying presents and touring the country to visit family.  

Therefore it is essential to me that we get the children excited about it in as many ways as possibly to help them to understand the significance of the occasion. 

We began with a sensory box of mixed bird seed with plastic eggs and fluffy yellow chicks.  The seed, chicks and eggs all represent new life which is what we get in Christ and which is happening all around us at this time of year. 

Boris enjoyed scooping the seeds, filling and emptying the eggs with the seeds, sweeping the seeds around the box and making shapes in it with his hand.  Together we did some imaginative play with the chicks.  Biscuit liked pouring the seeds and scooping them with the eggs. 

The improved their fine motor skills, learned about volume and the qualities of materials, they also benefited from the therapeutic experience of feeling the seeds between their fingers.

We loved making this Easter garden.  The boys raced around our garden pulling up patches of moss (of which we have plenty!) and flowers to decorate.  Boris was really motivated to gather bits and pieces for the garden and understood that we were making a tomb which was where Jesus' body was laid and the cross where he died.  The activity was a bit advanced for Biscuit who mostly enjoyed pulling up plants round the garden then destroying out Easter one every time our backs were turned! On Easter morning we rolled away to stone to show that the tomb was empty.  Amazingly after a few days little seedlings began to grow all over the garden which must have come from seeds left in the compost we used (which was from out compost bin) they are tomato plants I think, they felt really significant and meaningful. 

Another sensory play experience using one of our favourites - water beads. (HERE are some more water bead activities)  I used the plastic eggs again which I bought off ebay I think (but found some cheaper in The Range) with the water beads and a bit of water at the bottom of the plastic box. The boys scooped and poured the water beads with the eggs, also filled the eggs with beads then emptied them.  This activity was a bit too exciting for Boris who decided ultimately to pour all the water and beads that were in the tub over the carpet, then to stamp on the beads to make them break into a million pieces for me to tidy up.

And of course the all-important Easter egg hunt.  I can't tell you how excited Boris was EVERY time he found an egg.  He ran up to us showing us then egg with great enthusiasm shouting "I found an egg".  Loved how he didn't realise I had hidden the eggs there just minuted before (tee hee). 

Biscuit, bless him, found half the amount that Boris did.

Anyway, I hope you all had a wonderful Easter, I am sure you still have a stash of eggs at home that your children are slowly munching through (and maybe, like me, you are giving them a little help with that). 

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Fun Things to do With Toddlers - Candy Cane slime (Ooblek)

Last time we played with corn flour and water it was a big hit, so it was no surprise when this festive version went down a storm. Boris played with it for ages and was totally engaged, just feeling the mixture with his fingers and mixing up the colour.

I filled the bottom of the dish to a few mm thick with corn flour, then added enough water to make the right consistency and some peppermint flavoring for an added sensory experience, then Boris added the food colouring with a little dropper. Such a great activity for my little man, he obviously responds well to this sort of sensory experience so I am going to have a go at making some more types of slime in the future. 

Fun Things to do With Toddlers on Bonfire Night

Ok so it's probably a bit late for you to actually do these activities with your toddler tonight, but we did them today so thought I would share.  Maybe you can do them tomorrow as a way of reflecting, or Pin them for next year.

I wanted to do some Bonfire night activities today because we were staying in. (We had terrified both our children sufficiently with fireworks on Saturday)  And I wanted to reflect on their firework experiences thus far. (i.e. try to help them  not to be terrified.)  I hadn't made any decisions about what I would do, but was thinking about something along the lines of flicking paint at black paper and fireworks made of toilet tubes.  But then Pinterest saved the day!

Sometimes activities I do take weeks of planning, ordering items off Amazon, preparing, making parts etc.  and other times they just seems to come together.  I saw this activity on Pinterest literally yesterday, HERE it is, its a great activity, I thought, "yes, I will pop to the shops and get some rice and black food colouring tomorrow and do this activity, BOSH!" 

Then, when I was in ASDA (I went a bit mad I think) and it became abundantly clear that not only could I replicate this marvelous activity I could also enhance it!  With...wait for it....FLASHING BALLS my friends! Oh yes, what could be better for a firework sensory tub than actual flashing spikey balls (in the party section, meant for party-bag gifts I think and on offer 8 balls for £5)!  I also bought parcel bows, tinsel, twirly gift wrap ribbon, and some shiny card. (Did I mention I went a bit mad?!)

This was the awesome result - Fireworks baby!

I made little "Fireworks" by sticking two parcel bows together with two bits of twirly ribbon and some tinsel stuck between them.

And I cut some stars out of the shiney card and glued them together so they were shiny on both sides.

I began the activity with just the balls, then added the rice, then the fireworks, and then the stars.  This seemed to engage Boris more than putting everything in at once. I talked to Boris about fireworks and made firework noises with the little fireworks I made and he mimicked this.

He was very mesmerised by the rice more than anything else and spent a long time running it through his fingers (and pouring it on the floor) and swirling his hands in it. 

If I were to do this activity again I would use a big, low sided tub and put it on the table so that Biscuit (age 1) couldn't get into it (he tried to eat the rice).  I used our water table that we used in the summer for THIS activity. 

In the evening I did this quick activity with chalk that had been soaked in water (it makes the colour brighter!) I said to Boris that we would draw a firework and he did a lovely big circular scribble which I added to with some sparkly type bits round the edge.

Did you do any bonfire related activities with your toddlers?  I have a ton of Autumn related posts to write but they will have to wait for another day.

Hope you are enjoying this (mostly) lovely warm and sunny Autumn.